The Emergency Planning Society - Regional Branches - East Midlands

Regional Branches - Branch Business Plan

Title

Shield INTRODUCTION

The Business Plan for the East Midlands Branch of the Emergency Planning Society, sets the main priorities of the Branch until the end of 2009. It is not a detailed description of every aspect of our work but highlights the overall direction of our activities, as well as the key developments and changes we expect to take place along the way.

It has been drawn up to ensure that the Branch can achieve the core objectives of the Emergency Planning Society. The plan is made up of two sections, the Strategic Framework which is a static document and the Action Plan which is a living document and will be updated at every branch meeting.

The action plan (see Appendix 1) takes account of the key deliverables set out in the Society’s Business Plan; it details targets for the branch to achieve. This will ensure the Branch supports the Society in its overall objective of being recognised as the premier professional body in the field of Emergency Planning and Management.

The Branch is managed by an Executive Committee, which comprises ten members from public, private and voluntary sector workers (see page 2).

Membership of the Branch is open to people who have a professional, managerial or operational capacity, which includes Category 1 and/or Category 2 responders, privatised companies working in an Emergency Planning, Disaster Management, Business Continuity or Civil Contingencies related field. It is also open to other individuals who have an interest in emergency planning or who are engaged in full time study related to the field of Emergency Planning and Civil Contingencies Management.

The Business Plan restates the core objectives of the Society and details an action plan by which sustained progress can be made towards ensuring the Society is recognised as the premier professional body in the field of Emergency Planning and Civil Contingencies Management.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The primary aims of the Branch are to:

· To promote the professional interests of its members.

· To support the Emergency Planning Society in promoting effective emergency planning and management across the East Midlands

Objectives:-

· Promote the views of its members in all issues related to Emergency Planning and Civil Contingencies Frameworks;

· Provide a forum for the study of the most effective means of planning and managing local emergency preparation and response, and dissemination of good practice;

· As part of the Emergency Planning Society as a whole seek to Influence policy related to Emergency Planning and Civil Contingencies;

· Encourage members to participate in the development of Regional and Sub Regional planning and resilience;

· Encourage the professional development of its members.

The delivery of these core objectives of the Branch will depend to a great extent on the representative strength of the Branch membership.

The new strategic framework recognises that the environment in which Emergency Planners operate has changed significantly. Not only are the hazards different, but due to a reduced tolerance amongst the general public to disruption, expectations are ever greater. The resulting challenge for technology and greater global interdependence has led to a complex web of systems supporting our lifestyle – systems that can be easily disestablished as events such as the terrorist events and the devastating flooding of recent years has amply demonstrated. I believe that this new framework, for the way we do business in the Society will better equip us to deal with a dynamic, unpredictable field of practice, and to allocate our resources more effectively.

Chris Spry

Chair East Midlands Branch

Shield PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

During the next 2 years the East Midlands Branch will:

Contribute to the development of the core competencies map of our profession
Represent the professional interests of our Branch Members on a local, national and international basis, advocating and lobbying on their behalf as appropriate
Contribute to, localise and distribute professional guidance and standards to our members
Develop a knowledge base of expertise, which can be shared between members and member organisations
Develop an active media profile for the East Midlands Branch, representing the interests and views of our members at local, regional and national levels
The Branch will work to raise its profile and promote the benefits of Society membership in all areas, working with Government Departments, Local Authorities, Private Sector Employers’ Organisations and Business Organisations.
The Branch will feed into information channels such as web pages, workgroups and seminars which will enhance communication help to develop expertise and promote the sharing of experience/knowledge with members, other Branches and the Society.

· The Branch will work to ensure awareness of Branch activities among members, potential members, employers, Government and the public at large.

· The Branch will distribute minutes of meetings promotional and recruitment literature and the Branch’s Annual Report.

Shield MEMBER SERVICES

During the next two years the Branch will:

Advise members and potential members on the process for joining the Society
Ensure that the Branch database is maintained with new membership details and those members are informed regarding the grade progression pathway.
Further develop the Continuing and Professional Development Programme in line with the core competencies of the profession.
Encourage Branch members to contribute articles and reports to the Society’s “Blueprint” Magazine

The Branch will work to increase its membership in all sectors of the Emergency Planning Civil Contingencies professions. It will also use attendance at Conferences and Seminars to target potential new members from relevant organisations.

Shield TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

During the next 2 years the Branch will:

Arrange a Membership Upgrade Training session to help members understand the processes involved and give help and advise with filling in applications
Provide training opportunities for our members in line with core competencies, current legislation and industry guidelines
Provide a regular opportunities to help with the personal development of members
Develop partnerships and influence the training provided by other agencies

Shield BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES

During the next 2 years the Branch will:

Develop and maintain efficient management systems
Develop and maintain an archive for Branch Business Information
Work towards achieving an income from its activities and from subscriptions sufficient to fund the development of the future aims and objectives of the Branch

SHields APPENDIX 1

EAST MIDLANDS BRANCH OF THE EMERGENCY PLANNING SOCIETY

ACTION PLAN 2007 – 2009 UPDATED 1 JULY 08

Objective	Action By	Target/ Completion Date	Status
1. COMMUNICATION & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Act as a link between Branch members and the Society, through the EPS Council, Board and other National meetings	Chris Spry	Ongoing	In Progress – Attendance at Council, and seminars and conferences, liaison with Central Office, Blueprint and Professional Working Groups
Hold an AGM for the Branch on a yearly basis, which will include Chair, and other executive reports, statement of Branch Accounts and a breakdown of Membership	Chris Spry Andy McCombe & Martin Wilkinson	Ongoing	In Progress – next AGM to be held on21 April 2008 (date confirmed), information will be circulated to members following January Branch meeting.
Update EPS Website with new information with regard to branch or local events, Executive Committee, reports and minutes of Branch meetings.	Andy McCombe	Ongoing	Ongoing
Feed in to the re-development of the Central EPS Website	Dave Crowe	End March 2008	Complete
2. MEMBER SERVICES
In liaison with the EPS Central Office, maintain the Branch Membership Database and produce yearly breakdown of the members	Andy McCombe	Ongoing	Membership details are now held centrally on the EPS website and can be access by the Sec. There are 116 members as of Sep 08.
Hold an annual Branch event linked to the AGM every year and provide at least one other event social/professional event per annum.	Gareth Twitchett	Ongoing	Ongoing. Environment Agency and Radcliffe power station in November 08 and East Midlands Airport possible in early 09.
· Develop and deliver a ‘Welcome Pack’ containing a welcome letter and all other relevant information which will be sent to all new members.	Andy McCombe	May 2007	Complete
Develop and implement a Member Services Strategy	Maureen Hepburn	Ongoing	In Progress – planning to contact associate members to promote upgrade.
· In liaison with EPS Central Office develop a Recruitment and Retention Strategy including: improving access to Branch services and events	Maureen Hepburn	Ongoing	Ongoing – Centre EPS policy needs duplication. Member to seek brochure to promote joining EPS.
· Improved branch information on the EPS Website	Andy McCombe	Completed

· Issue a bi-annual newsletter to Branch Members available via the website and by e mail.	Nil	Nil	Task cancelled, web site to be used instead.
3. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Promote and encourage progression through the EPS membership grades	Maureen Hepburn	Ongoing	In Progress – letter to be sent to associate members promoting upgrade. Event Attendance Certificates to be progressed.
Develop and Implement a Training and Development Strategy in line with overall EPS strategy	Nick Andrews	September 2008	In Progress – Need to establish working practices with the Professional Working Groups to help provide workshops and seminars.
4. STRATEGY & BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES
Review Action Plan progress quarterly (standing agenda item on Executive Committee)	Chris Spry	Ongoing	In Progress
Ensure information is published onto website within 3 weeks of request	Andy McCombe	Ongoing	In Progress
Develop and publish Business Plan for the Branch, setting out key deliverables for 2007/2009, delivery dates and ownership of tasks	Chris Spry	September 2007	Complete – Business will be set out to members by the end of September 2007 – placed on website Mar 08.
Review and Revise the Branch rules and circulate to Branch members	Dave Crowe	September 2008	In Progress
Manage and maintain a transparent management system for Branch Finance	Martin Wilkinson	Ongoing	Committee reports and annual return
Produce an Annual Statement of Branch Accounts (covering period April 1^st 2007 to 31^st March 2009 for presentation at the 2009 Branch AGM and submission to EPS Central Office for auditing.	Martin Wilkinson	April 2009	Recurring Task

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Regional Branches - Branch Business Plan